Eleanor Parker

1.1. Childhood and Education

Eleanor Jean Parker was born on June 26, 1922, in Cedarville, Ohio, to Lola (née Isett) and Lester Day Parker. Her father was a mathematics teacher. The family later moved to East Cleveland, Ohio, where Parker attended public schools and graduated from Shaw High School. From her earliest memories, Parker expressed a strong desire to act, stating, "Ever since I can remember, all I wanted to do is act. But I didn't just dream about it. I worked at it." She participated in numerous school plays, honing her skills.

1.2. Early Career and Discovery

After graduating from high school, Parker traveled to Martha's Vineyard to further develop her acting abilities. While working as a waitress, she received an offer for a screen test from 20th Century Fox, which she declined, prioritizing her focus on film acting. She subsequently relocated to California and began performing at the renowned Pasadena Playhouse. It was during a performance at the Pasadena Playhouse that she was discovered by Irving Kumin, a talent scout for Warner Bros.. Kumin offered her a screen test, which she accepted, leading to her signing a long-term contract with the studio in June 1941.

2.1. Warner Bros. Era

Parker's initial foray into film under Warner Bros. began with a bit part in They Died with Their Boots On (1941), though her scenes were ultimately deleted. Her official film debut was as Nurse Ryan in the 1942 short film Soldiers in White. She quickly moved into more substantial roles in B-films such as Busses Roar (1942) and The Mysterious Doctor (1943). Her performance in Mission to Moscow (1943) particularly impressed Warner Bros., leading to her replacement of Joan Leslie in Between Two Worlds (1944), where she played the wife of Paul Henreid's character.

She continued in supporting roles in Crime by Night (1944) and The Last Ride (1944) before securing a starring role opposite Dennis Morgan in The Very Thought of You (1944), stepping in for Ida Lupino. Parker also made a cameo appearance as herself in Hollywood Canteen (1944). One of her most challenging roles at Warner Bros. was Mildred Rogers in the 1946 adaptation of Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage. Although director Edmund Goulding praised her as one of America's five greatest actresses, the film received an underwhelming reception upon its release two years after production. Despite this, Parker cited it as her favorite role in 1953.

Parker considered her "big break" to be her casting alongside John Garfield in Pride of the Marines (1945), a role she described as "great" and where she felt she "looked good with John Garfield." However, subsequent films with Errol Flynn, the romantic comedy Never Say Goodbye (1946) and the drama Escape Me Never (1947), were box-office disappointments. Parker faced two suspensions from Warner Bros. for refusing parts, first in Stallion Road (where she was replaced by Alexis Smith) and then in Love and Learn, which she deemed "not suitable." She starred with Ronald Reagan in the comedy The Voice of the Turtle (1947), also known as One for the Book, and appeared in an adaptation of The Woman in White (1948), playing dual roles. Another refusal, for Somewhere in the City (1948), led to another suspension, with Virginia Mayo taking the role.

Following a two-year hiatus during which she married and had a child, Parker returned to film in Chain Lightning with Humphrey Bogart. In a 1949 interview, she expressed a desire to move away from roles that had little relation to most people's lives, seeking more true-to-life assignments. Parker actively pursued and secured the lead role in Caged (1950), a prison drama. Her performance earned her the 1950 Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival and her first Academy Award nomination. She also delivered a strong performance in the melodrama Three Secrets (1950). In February 1950, after an eight-year contract, Parker left Warner Bros. due to a misunderstanding regarding a film project titled Safe Harbor, which the studio had no intention of producing. Her agents negotiated her release.

2.2. Paramount and MGM Periods

Parker's career outside Warner Bros. began with mixed results, including Valentino (1951), where she played a fictionalized wife of Rudolph Valentino, and the comedy A Millionaire for Christy (1951). In 1951, she signed a contract with Paramount Pictures for one film per year, with the flexibility for outside projects. This arrangement started successfully with her role as Mary McLeod in William Wyler's Detective Story (1951), where she played the wife of an unstable detective portrayed by Kirk Douglas. Her performance earned her a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, notably for one of the shortest performances ever nominated in that category.

Following Detective Story, Parker portrayed an actress in love with a swashbuckling nobleman (played by Stewart Granger) in Scaramouche (1952), a role originally intended for Ava Gardner. Despite Parker's later claim that Granger was the only person she did not get along with during her career, their on-screen chemistry was evident, and the film became a massive hit. MGM quickly cast her in Above and Beyond (1952), a biopic about Lt. Col. Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which also proved to be a solid success. While filming Escape from Fort Bravo (1953), Parker signed a five-year contract with MGM.

She was announced for lead roles in My Most Intimate Friend and One More Time, a script by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, but neither film was produced. Returning to Paramount, Parker starred with Charlton Heston as a 1901 mail-order bride in The Naked Jungle (1954), directed by Byron Haskin and produced by George Pal. She then returned to MGM, reuniting with Robert Taylor in Valley of the Kings (1954) and the Western Many Rivers to Cross (1955). In 1953, Parker reflected on her career choices, stating, "I maintain that if you work, believe in yourself, and do what is right for you without stepping all over others, the way somehow opens up." She noted her past refusals of roles at Warner Bros., including Westerns, which she felt had paid off. In a 1954 interview, she named Caged and Detective Story as her favorite films, and Chain Lightning, Escape Me Never, Valentino, and The Woman in White as her least favorite. She expressed a preference for being under contract, with commitments to make two films per year at MGM and one at Paramount.

2.3. Notable Film Performances

Eleanor Parker's career was defined by several critically acclaimed and iconic performances that showcased her remarkable range.

One of her most significant roles at MGM was as opera singer Marjorie Lawrence in Interrupted Melody (1955). The film was a major success and earned Parker her third Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She later stated that Interrupted Melody was her favorite film.

In the same year, Parker appeared in the film adaptation of the National Book Award-winning novel The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), directed by Otto Preminger and released by United Artists. She played Zosh, the wheelchair-bound wife of a heroin-addicted jazz drummer, Frankie Machine (portrayed by Frank Sinatra). This role was a major commercial and critical success for Parker.

In 1956, she was top-billed alongside Clark Gable in the comedy The King and Four Queens, also for United Artists. She then returned to MGM for two dramas: Lizzie (1957), in which she played the title role of a woman with a split personality, and The Seventh Sin (1957), a remake of The Painted Veil. Both films performed poorly at the box office, leading to the cancellation of Parker's plans to produce L'Eternelle, a film about French resistance fighters.

Parker's most widely recognized screen role came in 1965 when she played Baroness Elsa von Schraeder in the Academy Award-winning musical The Sound of Music. Her portrayal of the sophisticated and elegant rival to Julie Andrews' Maria remains one of her most memorable performances.

2.4. Later Film Roles

From the late 1950s into the 1960s, Eleanor Parker continued to appear in films, often supporting notable stars, before gradually shifting her focus towards television. She supported Frank Sinatra again in the popular comedy A Hole in the Head (1959). She returned to MGM for Home from the Hill (1960), co-starring with Robert Mitchum, and then took over Lana Turner's role as Constance Rossi in Return to Peyton Place (1961), a sequel to the successful 1957 film. This film was produced by 20th Century Fox, which also made Madison Avenue (1961) with Parker.

In the early 1960s, her film appearances became less frequent as she began to work more in television, with occasional film roles such as Panic Button (1964). After her iconic role in The Sound of Music (1965), Parker appeared in several films in 1966: the crime drama Warning Shot, where she played an alcoholic widow; The Oscar, portraying a talent scout; and An American Dream, as a wealthy alcoholic. Her final theatrical film of the 1960s was the tense thriller Eye of the Cat (1969), co-starring with Michael Sarrazin and Gayle Hunnicutt, written by Joseph Stefano. After 1969, with the exception of a small role in Sunburn (1979), her on-screen acting was primarily in television.

3.1. Television Work

Eleanor Parker made her television debut in 1960. She consciously sought out quality stories and roles that she found "good or fun," stating, "People told me I was crazy to do Hole in the Head and Home from the Hill, but both those pictures appealed to me. I did enough of the bad ones (films), while I was under contract - because I was being told to do them. That's the problem with being under contract. You do the pictures, or be suspended. Now, I don't want to work unless I have faith in the part. This has nothing to do with wanting to be famous, or anything like that. It's just that I love acting."

In 1963, Parker appeared in the medical drama The Eleventh Hour in the episode "Why Am I Grown So Cold?", for which she received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. In 1964, she appeared in the episode "A Land More Cruel" on Breaking Point. In 1968, she portrayed a spy named Margitta Kingsley in How to Steal the World, a film version of the two-part concluding episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E..

From 1969 to 1970, Parker starred in the television series Bracken's World, earning a 1970 Golden Globe Award nomination for Best TV Actress - Drama. She took on the series to avoid constant travel for film shoots, stating, "I wanted to do the series so I could stay put. Every movie I'm offered is shot in Europe or Asia or somewhere. I'm tired of running around." However, she left the series after the first 16 episodes, citing the limited nature of her role.

After 1969, Parker worked steadily in television. She appeared in the NBC series Ghost Story episode "Half a Death" (1972). She also starred in TV movies such as Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring (1971), Vanished (1971), Home for the Holidays (1972), The Great American Beauty Contest (1973), The Bastard (1978), She's Dressed to Kill (1979), Once Upon a Spy (1980), and Madame X (1981). Parker made numerous guest appearances on popular series including Hawaii Five-O, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Vega$, Hotel, Finder of Lost Loves, and Murder, She Wrote. Her final television role was in the 1991 TV movie Dead on the Money.

3.2. Stage Productions

Concurrent with her television career, Parker also returned to the stage. She notably starred in theatrical productions, including the role of Margo Channing in Applause (1972), the Broadway musical adaptation of the film All About Eve. This role was originally played by Lauren Bacall in the musical. In 1976, she played Maxine in the Ahmanson Theater revival of The Night of the Iguana. She was also cast in the Circle in the Square Theatre revival of Pal Joey in 1976 but was replaced during previews.

4.1. Academy Award Nominations

Parker was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, a testament to her consistent strong performances in leading roles:

• In 1951, for her role as Marie Allen in Caged.
• In 1952, for her role as Mary McLeod in Detective Story.
• In 1956, for her role as Marjorie Lawrence in Interrupted Melody.

4.2. Other Accolades

Beyond her Academy Award nominations, Eleanor Parker garnered several other significant honors:

• She won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 1950 Venice Film Festival for her performance in Caged.
• She received a Golden Globe Award nomination in 1970 for her starring role in the television series Bracken's World.
• She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 1963 for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in The Eleventh Hour.
• Parker was also nominated for Laurel Awards for Top Female Star in 1958, 1959, and 1960.
• For her extensive contributions to the motion picture industry, Eleanor Parker was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6340 Hollywood Boulevard.

5.1. Marriages and Children

Eleanor Parker was married four times throughout her life:

• Her first marriage was to Fred Losee in March 1943; they divorced in 1944.
• She married Bert E. Friedlob in 1946. This marriage lasted until their divorce in 1953 and produced three children.
• In 1954, she married Paul Clemens, an American portrait painter. They had one child, actor Paul Clemens, before divorcing in 1965.
• Her final marriage was to Raymond N. Hirsch in 1966. She remained married to Hirsch until his death from esophageal cancer on September 14, 2001.

Parker was also the grandmother of actor Chase Parker.

5.2. Religious and Political Views

Eleanor Parker was raised as a Protestant. Later in her life, she converted to Messianic Judaism, a form of Christianity that incorporates some Jewish characteristics. In August 1969, she told New York Daily News columnist Kay Gardella, "I think we're all Jews at heart...I wanted to convert for a long time." She became a supporter of Messianic Jewish philosopher, teacher, and commentator Roy Masters, who owned the Foundation of Human Understanding in Grants Pass, Oregon. In 1978, Parker wrote the foreword to Masters's book How Your Mind Can Keep Well.

Politically, Parker was a lifelong Democrat. She publicly endorsed Adlai Stevenson for president in the 1952 presidential election.